ARTICLES ABOUT NEW JERSEY BY DATE - PAGE 5

After five years, New Jersey's pilot red-light camera traffic program came to a quiet end. But the debate continues on whether the controversial experiment improved safety or was just a cash cow for municipalities that raked in millions from frustrated motorists. Six municipalities in Camden and Gloucester Counties installed cameras at nine intersections in South Jersey under the program, which began in 2009. The cameras nailed hundreds of thousands of motorists blowing through intersections when the light was red. At $85 each, the citations pulled in millions of dollars in fines for more than two dozen municipalities, which were allowed to keep the bulk of the money to add to their coffers.

When Lost Tape Collective - a New Jersey-based label fueled by the sound of power pop-punk - holds its holiday showcase, it reveals the hidden charms and Christmas cheer of raging bands such as Tiny Moving Parts, Front Porch Step, State Champs, Light Years, and I Call Fives. Mostly, though, this holiday party shows off the good taste and fast-and-furious musicality of the band who function as the bosses of Lost Tape Collective, a band named Man Overboard. Before Man Overboard's 2008 start, Justin Collier and Zac Eisenstein were pals whose parents also happened to be pals, with everyone into classic rock.

The U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, acknowledged Wednesday a need to finish his office's investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closures as quickly as possible, though he would not say how long that might take. Asked by WNYC Radio's Brian Lehrer whether, with Christie considering a run for president in 2016, Fishman should "indict or clear before too long," Fishman said: "The answer to that question, of course, is yes. " "We try to move every investigation we have as fast as we possibly can, because if people know they're being investigated, that's always what we owe people," he said.

In connection with last month's Hockey Hall of Fame induction, former Flyer Peter Forsberg will be honored Tuesday before the game against Tampa Bay at the Wells Fargo Center. "He was an all-around great player. Great vision," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "I ended up coaching him for a bit. Really good team guy. Great to coach. Great to be around. " Forsberg, 41, played most of his 15 NHL years in Colorado and played parts of two seasons with the Flyers. He had 115 points in 100 games - the second-highest points-per-game production (1.15)

Gov. Christie says he has long backed the Dallas Cowboys, but his allegiance drew fresh attention - and ire from some Philadelphia fans - Sunday night when television cameras showed the New Jersey governor high-fiving Dallas owner Jerry Jones during a Cowboys win over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. "The first thing I thought was, wow, I might actually not vote for him if I had the opportunity," Greg Shields, 24, of Drexel Hill, said Monday. "It rubbed me completely the wrong way. " He was one of a number of disgruntled Eagles fans who took to Twitter to criticize Christie's decision to sit with Jones and cheer on the enemy in Philadelphia territory.

New polls show Gov. Christie has lost some of the popularity that put him at the top of the list of likely Republican presidential candidates. He will lose even more when voters outside New Jersey get wind of the lack of integrity he has shown in fulfilling a promise to fund state pensions. Three years ago, Christie promised to increase pension payments in exchange for Democrats' support of a legislative package that reduced costs by raising the state employee retirement age from 62 to 65, ending cost-of-living raises for retirees, and increasing workers' contributions to health-care and pension benefits.

With a heave of chrome shovels, the leadership of Rowan University and local politicians ceremonially broke ground Friday for a new home for the Rohrer College of Business. "What a day!" exclaimed Rowan's president, Ali Houshmand, who extolled the $63.2 million project as evidence of New Jersey's commitment to expanding educational opportunities for its high school graduates, many of whom are forced to look outside the state for higher education. When completed in spring of 2017, the four-story, 96,500-square-foot building will have capacity to serve 2,000 students, double the current business school enrollment at the university.

TRENTON - Gov. Christie's pick to head the state Education Department won unanimous approval Thursday from a Senate panel, even as one conservative lawmaker and members of the public expressed unease with his embrace of the divisive Common Core State Standards. David C. Hespe, who was education commissioner under Gov. Christie Whitman, has served as acting head of the department since March, following the resignation of Chris Cerf. He was chief of staff in the department during Christie's first term and returned to the administration after a stint as president of Burlington County College.

ABOUT A THIRD of the way through their season, the Flyers' woeful record in road games in rivaled by only a select few of the NHL's other 29 teams. Only three wins in 15 games away from the Wells Fargo Center plays a big part in their sixth-place Metropolitan Division standing. And so these next four games, each against Eastern Conference teams and, more important, each at home in South Philly, are crucial for the Flyers (9-13-5). A chunk of points over the next 8 days is much-needed, especially considering another long road trip looms, this one of the seasonlong, eight-game variety.

As embattled former Port Authority Chairman David Samson sues to head off an Ethics Commission probe, the Christie administration finds itself in the awkward position of defending the ethics agency against a man who was a key ally of the governor. Samson, a former New Jersey attorney general who chaired Gov.-elect Christie's transition team in 2009 and was later appointed chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, asked a federal judge to declare that the Ethics Commission lacks jurisdiction to investigate or act against him in his capacity as a member of the bistate agency's board.